The behavioural and welfare implications of housing demand under rationing. The United Kingdom experience

"The present study investigates, on pooled budget data (1968/1985) from United Kingdom Family Expenditure Surveys, the consequences of relaxing the assumption of free choice in housing, while continuing to maintain the assumption of unrationed demand for other items. Since the demand equations are estimated jointly as a system, introducing rationed demand for one item will have consequences for the other demand equations. We investigate the nature and magnitude of such changes using the framework of a general demographic demand system that allows for non-linear/non-separable commodity demand behaviour and also permits the equivalence scales to vary between the rationed and unrationed items." The author finds that "unlike in previous studies, the rationed demand system fails to reject linear preferences."